2014 Honda Award Winner Kim Jacob Honored in Times SquareThe Raleigh, N.C., native, and her Honda Cup were displayed on the video boards high above Times Square in New York City

- University of Alabama gymnast Kim Jacob continues to be recognized for winning the 2014 Honda Cup this week. After Monday's ceremony, which crowned her the National Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year in Los Angeles, Jacob went bicoastal when her image and newest accolade were displayed high above Time Square in New York City.

July 3, 2014

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -
University of Alabama gymnast Kim Jacob continues to be recognized for winning the 2014 Honda Cup this week. After Monday's ceremony, which crowned her the National Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year in Los Angeles, Jacob went bicoastal when her image and newest accolade were displayed high above Times Square in New York City.

Jacob, the 2014 NCAA All-Around Champion, is just the third gymnast in the history of the award to win the Honda Cup, following Missy Marlowe (Utah, 1993) and Courtney Kupets (Georgia, 2009). Previous Honda Cup winners include basketball Cheryl Miller (1984), track and field superstar Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1985), soccer great Mia Hamm (1994) and swimming legend Tracy Caulkins (1982 and 1984).

"Kim Jacob deservedly was named the Collegiate Athlete of the Year and though diminutive in stature was gigantic in accomplishment as she raised the Honda Cup and became the 'best of the best' of the class of 2014," Chris Voelz, Executive Director of the College Women Sports Award, said

Jacob is the first Crimson Tide student-athlete to be a top-three finalist for the award and the first to win the Honda Cup.

"I never dreamed I'd win the Honda Cup and now, to have my picture with the Cup in Times Square is pretty amazing," Jacob said. "It's definitely a once in a lifetime experience."

A champion in the gym, the classroom and in the community, Jacob led Alabama to four consecutive top-four national finishes, including back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2011 and 2012. The 2014 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for the at-large team, Jacob is also a two-time member of the Southeastern Conference Community Service Team.

"This is such a tremendous honor for Kim and to have her picture in Times Square is so exciting," UA head coach Sarah Patterson said. "This not only recognize Kim and all she's accomplished at the University of Alabama, but it's an opportunity to put all that is good about women's athletics on display in a really big way, and I think that's awesome."

An 11-time All-American, she earned four first-team honors in 2014, the most of any gymnast at the national championships. She also led Alabama to SEC titles in 2011 and 2014.

The Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes for 37 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.8 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs at the institutions.